38 COVID-19 deaths, 6423 new infections reported in Minnesota - Minneapolis Star Tribune

“We would need to see several weeks of a sustained decline, where the high days become increasingly lower and the low days become increasingly lower, to be able to say we may be turning the corner,” said Kris Ehresmann, infectious disease director at the Minnesota Department of Health.

On Tuesday, the Health Department reported another 6,423 infections, along with 38 deaths.

For the seven-day period ending Tuesday, officials reported an average of 6,567 new infections per day — compared with an average of 7,052 in the seven-day period ending Nov.

Pressure has slowed over the past four days on Minnesota hospitals, which responded to rising COVID-19 admissions with delays of noncritical surgeries or procedures that were likely to require patient stays.

The state’s response capacity dashboard showed a total of 1,828 patients with COVID-19 in Minnesota hospitals, including 379 requiring intensive care.

Both numbers are records in the pandemic for Minnesota, which reported only 781 total COVID-19 hospitalizations on Nov1

Yang said she hopes people will learn from her family’s experience about the need to take COVID-19 seriously and to do what they can to slow the spread of the virus within their own families, particularly over Thanksgiving.

State health officials have urged Minnesotans to comply with the four-week order limiting social gatherings to immediate households only and to continue the mitigation strategies of mask-wearing and social distancing that slow the spread of the virus.

The holidays can typically accelerate the spread of seasonal influenza, and health officials are worried that the same will happen with COVID-19 over Thanksgiving.